Chicago Capital Management LLC Purchases Shares of 25,000 Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR)

Chicago Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SASR) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 25,000 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $843,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 93.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,271,498 shares of the bank’s stock worth $41,235,000 after purchasing an additional 615,591 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 3.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,072,619 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,654,000 after acquiring an additional 35,271 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP raised its holdings in Sandy Spring Bancorp by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,025,227 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,161,000 after purchasing an additional 120,793 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 893,547 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,121,000 after buying an additional 6,815 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp by 17.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 819,475 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,707,000 after purchasing an additional 121,574 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.90% of the company’s stock.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Trading Down 1.9 %

NASDAQ:SASR opened at $29.07 on Wednesday. Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $19.52 and a 1 year high of $39.55. The stock has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.60 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.41.

Sandy Spring Bancorp (NASDAQ:SASR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.01). Sandy Spring Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.31% and a net margin of 2.65%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.68%. Sandy Spring Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 302.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Sandy Spring Bancorp in a research report on Monday. They set a “sell” rating on the stock.

About Sandy Spring Bancorp

Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Sandy Spring Bank that provides commercial and retail banking, mortgage, private banking, and trust services to individuals and businesses in the United States. It offers financial products and services, including various loan and deposit products.